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Local resident on Guam for bulk of WWII service, Part 2

By Joe Todd

Historian

(Editor’s Note: Following is the conclusion of an interview with Bartlesville resident Richard Kuerston recorded Jan. 8, 2013, by Joe L. Todd for the Eisenhower Library of Abilene, Kan. The first part of the interview appeared in the July 8 edition of the E-E.)

Todd: Did your ship take any hits?

Kuerston: No. One guy was up on deck when he shouldn’t have been and he got a Purple Heart. And, he should have been down below. Never mind what we thought of that. That was our excitement for that first night.

T: How long were you on the ship before you landed

K: Not very long, because we started unloading stuff. Most of it was tanks, trucks and jeeps. It has a three- or four-foot draft, so we could get in pretty close.

T: Where did you set up camp?

K: It was not too far from Agana, the capitol. I don’t know who selected the spot, but it was right by an airstrip where fighters took off.

T: Was the camp already built?

K: No. We put it together ourselves with 16-by-16-foot tents and four men in each tent.

T: How long did it take to secure Guam?

K: I would wager 10 or 12 days. There were more Japanese killed or captured after it was secured than there was before.

T: What were you doing during the battle for Guam?

K: We were just on the ship. There was nothing to do except for getting the mechanized equipment off the ship.

T: After Guam was secured, what did you do?

K: There were minimal docks so we had to unload everything in barges, then take it ashore and put it on trucks.

T: How do you unload on to a barge?

K: The same way.

T: Is the crane on the ship?

K: Yes, it is part of the ship and is either steam or electrical powered. Most of them were steam powered. I was either down in the hold or on the dock unloading. We liked it if everything was on pallets, because we just hooked up the sling to the pallet. But if it wasn’t, then we had to make a pallet — which was a lot more work. Most of the time, it was pretty hard work.

T: What type of supplies were you unloading?

K: Everything from cement to ammunition. We liked to unload beer. We learned to drink hot beer. We would take a case of beer and have a little picnic, but we had to do that on the night shift.

T: Did you have any contact with the local people on Guam?

K: There weren’t many. There was a compound in the town of Agana that had some Japanese (civilians). I think the natives were pretty much hiding out.

T: Were many Japanese taken prisoner in that area?

K: I think there were about 36,000 Japanese and about 10,000 were taken as prisoners and another 10,000 were killed.

T: What is your most vivid memory of Guam?

K: I guess working 12 hours on and getting 12 hours off. We worked from 6 to 6. We had movies most every night and there was a beer garden with beer and coke. We had a ration card for beer and, when you got a beer, the card was punched. For a few dollars on the side, you could get the same hole punched several times.

T: Did any USO shows come to Guam?

K: One. Betty Hutton.

T: Did you meet her?

K: No, the officers took care of that.

T: What was the weather on Guam?

K: It was hot. And in the hold of those ships, it was even hotter.

T: What uniform did you wear?

K: As little as possible — dungarees or shorts.

T: Were you following the progress of the war?

K: Yes. We had a little newspaper, a weekly. It was our own unit’s newspaper and it had more personal interest for us than the Stars and Stripes. But, we also received the Stars and Stripes.

T: How long were you on Guam?

K: I would say 15 months.

T: Were you there when the war ended?

K: Yes. We were there when the dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

T: What did you think when you heard about the atomic bomb?

K: We were all for it.

T: When did you see your first Japanese soldier?

K: About the second day, when we were out wandering around where we shouldn’t have been. And, he wasn’t alive.

T: What do you mean, wandering around where you shouldn’t have been?

K: We were still kids and we were looking for souvenirs.

T: What did you think when you saw him?

K: I don’t know what I thought or felt, (maybe) let’s get out of here.

T: Was there a celebration on V-J Day?

K: Not much. We were still unloading ships. Guam was the biggest base in the Pacific.

T: Were you preparing for the invasion of Japan?

K: I guess we were.

T: What were you thinking?

K: That this was something we have to do. I always felt that they started it.

T: How large was your camp on Guam?

K: We were a battalion with four companies, then the officers, clerks and cooks. We had about 1,000 in the battalion.

T: Was Guam secured when you set up your camp?

K: No, we set up on the second day.

T: Did you have any trouble with the Japanese while you were setting up the camp?

K: As I said, there were no docks for the ships. After a month or two, the Seabees built docks and we drove our trucks down to those docks. We would drive by these caves an, once in a while, they would find a Japanese soldier in the caves as we were driving by. I have been told that there were Japanese in those caves for years.

T: Tell me about the trip home.

K: I don’t know what kind of ship it was, but we landed in San Francisco. The trip home was a lot faster because we didn’t have to zig-zag.

T: What did you think as you were going under the Golden Gate Bridge?

K: We’re home.

T: When did you get your discharge?

K: We got leave when we got home and then went to Camp Hueneme. One thing that the military did right was the point system. I didn’t have enough points, so I ran the post office at Camp Hueneme. I sorted the mail, delivered it and, by noon, I was done. I would go to Los Angeles or Hollywood two or three times a week.

T: Was the Hollywood Canteen still going?

K: I think it was. We went to some shows that were kind of risqué. We went to Earl Carroll’s Blackouts and to the Follies. We were treated pretty good, even though the war was over.

T: Did you return to Denver?

K: Yes. I was discharged 1945 at the Marine Base in San Diego — and don’t know why at the Marine Base. I took a train back to Denver.

T: What did you do after the war?

K: For a few months, my dad got me a job as a draftsman at Public Service of Colorado. Then, I started at the University of Colorado in the fall of 1945. Later, I got my degree in chemical engineering.

T: When did you come to Bartlesville?

K: 1950.

T: Why did you come here?

K: I thought this might be fairly close to home and I worked for Phillips.

T: Where did you meet your wife?

K: I met her in the Highland Methodist Church in Denver, before the war. Then, I was home on leave after Guam and we really connected.

T: What is her name?

K: Marilyn.

T: When did you get married?

K: 1947.

T: When did you retire?

K: In 1985. And was married almost 63 years.

T: Would you join the Navy again?

K: I don’t think they would have me, but if I was young, and under the same circumstances…

T: I’d like to do a word association. I’ll give you some words and you give me your reaction.

K: OK.

T: The first one is Adolf Hitler.

K: He started it all.

T: Tojo.

K: Another SOB.

T: Boot camp.

K: Necessary. Everybody went through it.

T: Seabees.

K: I don’t know why, but that was my choice.

T: Stevedore.

K: Hard work, but sometimes interesting. The cement bags weighed 90 pounds and, after you wrestle those things for 11 hours, you were tired.

T: Liberty ship.

K: I saw a lot of them and they were pretty good ships. I think they were putting out one (Liberty ship) a day.

T: LST.

K: An interesting mode of transportation.

T: Guam.

K: I guess now it is a tropical paradise, but it was hot, muggy and a lot of work.

T: Franklin Roosevelt.

K: I guess I didn’t like him too much. He was OK.

T: Harry Truman.

K: He was great. I think Harry was a great president.

T: Douglas MacArthur.

K: He got too big for his britches.

T: World War II.

K: Something that had to be done.

T: How do you want to be remembered?

K: For doing what needed to be done.

T: Anything else?

K: I think that is pretty much it.

T: Sir, this is an excellent interview. I want to thank you for your service and thank you for the interview. You did your part.